The Black Man’s Burden: The Diaspora's Urgent Mandate to Awaken Africa's Sleeping Giants
Part III: How the African Diaspora can unlock African economic growth and success - fully engaging with the world of crypto and getting more political
In the prior instalment of this four part and nine piece series on how the Diaspora can awaken Africa’s sleeping giants, we explored how the Diaspora’s $100 billion annual remittances could be further leveraged and monetized. Now, we venture beyond the world of remittances and get stuck in cryptocurrency, and the need for a modern, more organized and multi-pronged approach for Diaspora political engagement and advocacy.
Cryptocurrency and Web3 for Africa
Blockchain mechanisms and Web3 tech provide the African Diaspora with a toolkit apt for organizing on a large scale across borders, and wealth accumulation. Cryptography ensures that all transactions under a particular cryptocurrency or token cannot be duplicated, are irrevocable, and are difficult to fake. Key transaction information is also stored on different blockchains, which can easily be accessed on the web for verification.
Web3 refers to a new ecosystem of activities and services where everything is stored on the blockchain. dApps (decentralized apps) enable transactions to be conducted in Layer-2 tokens, which can then be exchanged for Layer-1 cryptocurrencies like Ethereum, Polygon and Solana. Layer-1 cryptocurrencies are relatively simple and cheap to exchange for fiat currency (money) on centralized exchanges like Coinbase, Binance and Kraken, or decentralized exchanges such as Metamask.
The Diaspora has an opportunity to pool its money and expertise into organizations and movements underpinned by crypto infrastructure. dApps, smart contracts and the tokenization process is relatively straight-forward practically speaking. Indeed, this explains the upsurge in memecoins over the last few years.
Crypto is a nascent technology that might hold the keys to Diaspora expression of cultural, social and artistic thought in relation to Africa and beyond.
Create tactical voting blocs as a means to influencing policy and electoral outcomes
In African countries where overseas nationals enjoy the privilege of registering to vote from abroad, their diaspora should vote, and vote with intention, as often as they can. African states that are yet to extend such a right to their nationals overseas, like Nigeria for example, should be held to task and made to reconsider.
Africans overseas can combine their votes with their considerable finances to lobby for changes and new solutions in domestic politics. Options could range from using the Diaspora’s considerable financial resources and networks to field and support local candidates, and set-up new political parties and movements on the ground across Africa. This could extend to creating and financing new political ecosystems in respect to the development of policy think tank. Helping to sharpen and expand the policy toolbox and vocabulary both local politicians and citizens rely to inform governance and implementation.
The follow-up piece to this spends time exploring Africa’s bond and stock markets, which arguably represents the most effective, and lucrative way for the Diaspora to yield transformative change.